Career Hub

Packaging & Marketing

I've been absent from the blogosphere for a bit, totally consumed with getting ready to move. (Boy, what a lot of work it is!) This weekend we had a giant garage sale and I saw first-hand the difference that good packaging and marketing can make.

Case in point - bed linens. Who wants to sort through a big box of old sheets, blankets, comforters, etc.? No one, apparently. But put 5 or 6 items in a bag and label it "COLLEGE BEDDING! Complete set Twin XLong" and see what happens. Similarly, an unlabeled dehumidifer will draw some glances, but a nice sign - "Perfect for finished basement!" - will draw buyers.

Same goes for you, as you market yourself for your career transition. What distinguishes you from others? In what situations can you add value? How can you group and present your unique skills and accomplishments so they have meaning for employers? Packaging and marketing are simply the method you use to let others see and understand who you are and what you can do for them.

Fastest growing jobs

Some of the fastest growing jobs through 2012--says Fast Company--are personal financial adviser, medical scientist, environmental engineer and post-secondary education administrator. Why? They're based on demand, which is driven by trends. With so many people close to retirement or thinking about how much longer they need to work, people need help managing money--hence, we need more personal finanical advisers. With spending on research for diseases like cancer, AIDS and Parkinson's disease expected in increase, we need more medical scientists. With increased environmental regulations expected, we'll need more environmental engineers. And with student enrollment expected to increase considerably, we need more education administrators. Trends create jobs. Be a trend-watcher to get ideas about your next career. But the most important thing to keep in mind is what you want and whether it's a career you would enjoy.

Know trends to know where you fit.

If you're trying to figure out what type of career you want next, after looking inside yourself, look at the trend outside in the world. Trends illustrate shifts taking place among social, cultural and economic issues. Trends help create jobs. Some jobs are created solely to solve needs as they arise or as trends shift. When you read about a trend, think about what that means to you, the skills you have and what you're interested in. Is there a way to apply what you know and can do to this trend?

Be Careful Online

The New York Times ran a great piece last weekend about young jobseekers losing out on opportunities because of their online activities. It began with the story of one individual:

When a small consulting company in Chicago was looking to hire a summer intern this month, the company's president went online to check on a promising candidate who had just graduated from the University of Illinois.

At Facebook, a popular social networking site, the executive found the candidate's Web page with this description of his interests: "smokin' blunts" (cigars hollowed out and stuffed with marijuana), shooting people and obsessive sex, all described in vivid slang.

It did not matter that the student was clearly posturing. He was done.

"A lot of it makes me think, what kind of judgment does this person have?" said the company's president, Brad Karsh. "Why are you allowing this to be viewed publicly, effectively, or semipublicly?

Good question. For me the rule of thumb is this: If you wouldn't want potential employers to see what you're about to post to a website, don't post it!

Managers + Leaders + Differences + Baseball

The Internet is such an amazing tool. For instance, today I googled the words managers + leaders + differences + baseball for a project I'm researching. My results yielded a plethora of places to go visit and so I clicked on www.tompeters.com. What a wealth of information on this management consulting guru's site, plus check out his Cool Friends while you're at it!

Are you Tech-Savvy?

Recently I've worked with a number of senior level clients who struggle with commonly used software. These executives run companies, oversee multi-million dollar budgets and develop global strategies. And yet when it comes to the basics of attaching files to emails or saving a Word document to the right place on their PC, they are stuck.

And so I wonder how they manage to create text-only files for posting online. And whether they are posting profiles that work on online job boards. Do they know how to create keyword-rich profiles? Do they know how to make sure their resumes can be found in databases? Have they found a way to build an online presence so that when they are googled, potential employers find the right things?

The Internet changed job search forever. It's no longer enough to mail a resume and cover letter when you see an interesting vacancy. The market is MUCH more competitive then ever, and the Internet makes it both harder and easier to be seen. (Harder to get someone to look at your resume when you want them to, but easier for employers to research you online.)

Being tech-savvy isn't a luxury anymore - when you're looking for your next career move, it's a necessity.

Employee Referrals Challenge

CareerHub has become the must-read blog in my daily schedule ever since I was invited early on to be a contributing writer (there are now 12 of us career-industry professionals). The articles and snippets on career management, job search, business growth, and related issues are a treasure trove of practical applications and motivating wisdom for job-seekers and really anyone interested in career management and growth.

A recent posting on employee referrals, Who Knows You Matters, caught my eye. The posting referenced Gerry Crispin and Mark Mehler's 5th Annual Sources of Hire Survey in which they discovered that employee referrals accounted for the largest segment of external hires. Networking has been the most significant method of obtaining job leads for the past 21 years (as long as I have been in the careers industry) and, I'm sure, probably since forever.

The wrinkle (one that I've been advocating with my clients for years) is that you need to network not only with everyone you know and meet, but also cultivate new relationships with folks already working at companies you're targeting for a job. These employees can become your prime conduit to "inside referrals", which will give you the edge over other "cold" applicants. In addition, they can supply you with company culture information and referrals to other company and industry insiders.

But there's a new challenge to this powerful and effective employee referral process by the Federal government, namely the EEOC. According to Workforce Management Online's article "Dipping Carefully into the Applicant Pool", the new EEOC Compliance Manual of April 19, 2006, in it's "best practices" list, recommends that employers eliminate word-of-mouth recruiting in non-diverse workplaces.

The new manual includes stricter guidelines regarding employee referrals. "Employers should review their programs to determine if minority employees are referring only minority candidates, or non-minority employees are referring only non-minority candidates," says Gayla Crain, managing partner of Epstein Becker Green Wickliff & Hall in Dallas.

So, as you're cultivating relationships in those targeted companies, remember to be inclusive in your networking. Go out of your way to build relationships with diverse racial and ethnic employees...it will not only pay-off in your job search, it will stretch you and enrich you as a person.

Who Knows You Matters

The CareerXRoads 5th Annual Sources of Hire Survey, by Gerry Crispin and Mark Mehler, found that employee referrals account for the largest proportion of external hires. This is a clear message for those serious about managing their careers-- it is not just what you know but who knows you that matters. Savvy professionals will purposefully pursue and cultivate relationships with employees at companies where they may want to work because the best way to learn about new opportunities - especially those that are not advertised (the hidden job market) - is to be hooked into the insiders who have access to inside information about possible openings. Networking is not just good business, networking makes careers.

Hot Growth Companies

If you're a senior executive in career management mode (and you should be) it's important to track the up and coming companies. Here's BusinessWeek's take on today's 100 hottest companies and their related business sectors.

Networking nets jobs - 46% to 63% of them!

This from today's The Executive Insider newsletter (published by ExecuNet).

According to the survey of 1,483 professionals with an average salary of $193,000, the top three sources for job interviews include:
Networking contacts (46%);
Internet job listings (24%); and
Unsolicited contact from a recruiter (5%).

ExecuNet also states that the findings of a separate survey of 181 search firms show that,

...during the past twelve months, 63% of all executive job openings were filled with a candidate that was sourced through networking. Other top sources recruiters relied on during the past year include internal resume databases, which helped fill 16% of all openings and Internet job postings, which accounted for 11% of executive placements.

If you think you don't have time to nurture your network, think about how much more time it takes to look for a job - and to land the right job! With tenures of senior-level executives shrinking to under three years, and often to less than 18 months, doesn't it make sense to invest time in career management? The ROI is undeniable.